Texas
Political fighting pervades Texas politicians’ responses to Austin shooting
Texas elected officials and candidates’ response to the deadly shooting in downtown Austin on Sunday quickly turned political, as Republicans sharply criticized the country’s naturalization process and Democrats called for stricter gun reform laws.
Republicans’ rebukes of the immigration system came after media outlets identified the gunman, whom police killed within a minute of arriving at the scene, as a naturalized citizen from Senegal. The Department of Homeland Security said the man entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2000, became a lawful permanent resident by marrying a U.S. citizen in 2006 and was naturalized in 2013.
Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, the gunman killed two people and injured 14 others at a bar that sits among several popular nightlife venues on West 6th Street.
Many Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, suggested the gunman wasn’t properly backgrounded before he was granted U.S. citizenship, but did not provide details of what should have prevented his naturalization. When asked about his criminal history, DHS only said the man was arrested in Texas in 2022, after he was a citizen, for “collision with vehicle damage,” a misdemeanor crime typically given when someone leaves the scene of a wreck.
The New York Post reported that gunman, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, was arrested for “illegal vending” in New York City in 2001. Citing unnamed sources, The Post said he was arrested in New York three other times between 2008 and 2016, but those cases are sealed. The Post did not report on whether he was convicted of any crimes.
At least one GOP candidate for attorney general has called for an audit into immigrants who are in the country legally.
“Audit all ‘legal’ immigrants’ papers and deport as many as possible,” Aaron Reitz said on X.
Reitz and others also voiced their opposition to Islam, which has become a key campaign pillar for some Texas Republicans competing in Tuesday’s GOP primary. The gunman wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words “Property of Allah” and a shirt with a design of the Iranian flag, according to the Associated Press. The shooting happened after the United States and Israel bombed Iran.
Austin police did not disclose a motive for the shooting, but the FBI is investigating it as a potential act of terrorism, the Associated Press reported late Sunday.
The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an American Muslim civil rights group, condemned the attack in a statement Sunday and rejected any efforts to blame the whole community based on one individual’s action.
“We encourage elected officials, law enforcement, faith leaders, and community members to come together to support the families of the victims and reaffirm our shared commitment to public safety,” the organization’s statement said.
Abbott and state Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat running for U.S. Senate, quarreled on X about the shooting. Abbott said that “allowing unvetted immigrants who are hostile to America, who are loyal to our adversaries like Iran, must end. This was an act of terror, James.”
“The way to end it is to end the current open immigration policies,” he continued. “You and your immigration policies would make America less safe.”
Talarico responded to Abbott by saying “dangerous people should not be allowed into the country. Dangerous people should not be allowed to get guns. Texans understand this — you apparently don’t.”
Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock criticized Talarico on X for politicizing the incident.
“With all due respect sir – now is not the time. All of the information has not come out. How can policy be made on incomplete information?” he said. “The action that needed to happen did – officers heroically ended the violence.”
“This applies to all candidates and elected officials regardless of party,” he continued. ”Now is the time to focus on the victims and first responders impacted, not campaigns.”
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, who is also running for the GOP nomination to be state attorney general, posted alleged details about the gunman’s immigration to America and naturalization. He said the gunman was granted legal residency during George W. Bush’s administration, “amid GOP celebration of the joys of ‘melting pot’ legal immigration.”
“This is why we are losing our country, our immigration system is a joke, and should PAUSE ALL immigration,” Roy said.
Naturalization is the legal process of becoming a citizen after meeting certain requirements.
Denise Gilman, director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin, said there has long been extensive vetting in the naturalization process, including criminal background checks. She also said immigrants can’t immediately become citizens without first going through prior steps, such as becoming a lawful permanent resident, that require scrutiny.
“Naturalization is just the last step of many steps that all require vetting,” she said.
Immigrants are eligible for naturalization if they are 18 years old or older and have been green card holders for at least five years (three years if they are married to a U.S. citizen). They also have to take tests proving they’re able to speak, read and write in English. As of last fall, the Trump administration added more requirements, such as a more rigorous civics test, and having to prove to an immigration officer that they are “a person of good moral character.”
When asked about Diagne’s reported arrests, Gilman said generally arrests can be considered when evaluating moral character or discretion but will not automatically bar green card status or naturalization. Certain convictions, however, may result in actual bars.
“It really depends on the nature of the crimes involved,” she said.
Around 818,500 people were naturalized in the fiscal year of 2024, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which has not published 2025 data yet — nearly 10% lived in Texas. The total was a 7% decrease from 2023, the agency said. From 2022 to 2024, the country has added more than 2.6 million new citizens through naturalization.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who is up for reelection this year, said on Fox News that the shooting underscores “the importance of vetting people before they come across the border,” and is an example of “what happens when people become radicalized.”
Cornyn blamed the Biden administration for having “open border policies that let who knows what into the country,” Cornyn said.
Texas Democrats, meanwhile, responded to the shooting by pushing for stronger gun laws, but did not provide specifics on what policies would have prevented the man from obtaining weapons. Austin police also did not release details on how the man obtained the two firearms they say he used in the shooting.
Republicans control both chambers of the Texas Legislature and have routinely loosened gun restrictions while Democrats’ bills to curb access gain little traction.
Austin-based U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett also denounced gun violence, but did not issue any specific policy proposals.
“We must end America’s gun violence epidemic,” Casar said in a post on X. “Americans should be able to have fun at a bar without it turning into an unspeakable nightmare like this one — and I will redouble my efforts in Congress to prevent the next tragedy like this.”
Doggett said: “Gun violence is preventable. This devastating loss of life was preventable. Until Republicans find the courage to say no to the [National Rifle Association] our country will be plagued with more tragedies.”
Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Published On 8 Jul 2026
The family of a man killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Texas has called for an investigation into the incident.
The appeal on Wednesday came a day after the ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston during a traffic stop, the most recent high-profile killing by immigration enforcement agents amid the administration of US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.
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Salgado Araujo’s family said he was working at the time he was killed, driving a crew to a home build in the area. They said he may have been scared that the individuals in the unmarked vehicles that stopped him were trying to steal his tools.
They further said the Mexican national had lived in the US for 35 years and was working towards getting legal status. He had no criminal record and worked tirelessly to support his three US sons, all US citizens.
“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE’,” son Ronaldo Salgado said during a news conference.
“He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” he said.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said Salgado Araujo attempted to ram an ICE agent, who opened fire in response. Prior to that, they said Salgado Araujo’s car had struck an ICE vehicle.
No video or images of the incident have been released, although a bystander recorded its aftermath.
DHS said Salgado Araujo had been targeted by the agents because he was living in the US without documentation.
While the Trump administration had initially said it would only target criminals in its mass deportation push, it quickly said that it considered anyone in the US without documentation a criminal. Irregularly entering the US is a civil, not a criminal, violation.
Rights groups have accused immigration agents of using “dragnet” techniques under pressure to meet detainment quotas. The Trump administration has denied such quotas exist.
Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, League of United Latin American Citizens President Roman Palomares said the immigration crackdown has created a country where it is “open season on Latinos” by officers who think they can “shoot and explain later”.
The initial details of the Texas killing resemble the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January. DHS officials initially said that Good, a US citizen, was attempting to ram an ICE agent when she was fatally shot, although video appeared to show her steering around the agent, who opened fire after stepping to the side of her vehicle.
Just days later, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer as he sought to document immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
Little has emerged from federal probes into the killings, which came amid an enforcement surge in the city. In a rare move, the Department of Justice declined a separate civil-rights probe into Nicole Good’s killing.
‘Working to give us the American dream’
Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, Ronaldo Salgado recounted frantically looking for his father at his job site after his mother had been told something bad had happened.
At some point during the search, he was shown the video of his fatally wounded father.
“I recognised him, not from his appearance but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street,” Salgado said.
“After nearly 35 years of working to give us the American dream, he made the choice to begin the process of obtaining his American dream through a work permit,” Salgado said.
“We dotted every I, crossed every T, filled every document, and attended every appointment. He was close to obtaining his legal status.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum also condemned the killing, saying she was considering legal measures or an appeal to the United Nations.
“There has been another tragic death of one of our compatriots in the United States due to detention issues, even though their only ‘offence’ is not yet having proper documentation,” Sheinbaum said.
The shooting was at least the eighth known death during an encounter with federal immigration officers since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Dallas weather: July 8 morning forecast
High pressure starts to build back into North Texas, which lowers our rain chances and brings triple digit temperatures to parts of the region. Expect partly to mostly sunny skies today, with highs near 100.
DALLAS – A building system of high pressure is bringing triple-digit temperatures back to North Texas, though the intense heat will be short-lived before a weekend weather shift brings relief and renewed chances of rain.
Wednesday forecast
We expect partly to mostly sunny skies Wednesday, with high temperatures reaching near 100 degrees across much of the region. While hot and dry conditions will dominate, a low chance of scattered rain showers remains possible, primarily in areas east of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
The heat is expected to solidify Thursday as the upper-level ridge settles firmly over the area. We have removed all chances of precipitation from Thursday’s forecast, locking in dry conditions and an afternoon high temperature of 100 degrees.
However, relief is on the horizon for the upcoming weekend. The high-pressure ridge will lose its grip on North Texas as it begins to shift westward toward the desert southwest.
Weekend forecast
By late Saturday and continuing into Sunday, the atmospheric shift will establish a northerly flow aloft. This pattern change is expected to funnel a series of weather disturbances into the region, triggering a return of widespread rain and thunderstorm opportunities.
The unsettled weather pattern is forecast to linger well into next week. The persistent cloud cover and moisture associated with the continuing rain chances will successfully suppress the heat, keeping afternoon highs closer to historical norms for this time of year.
7-Day forecast
The Source: Information in this article is from the FOX 4 weather team.
Man, identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, is latest to be killed by ICE officers since President Trump took power.
Published On 8 Jul 2026
A United States immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston, Texas, while officers were attempting to stop his vehicle, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
The man killed on Tuesday was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, described by ICE as a Mexican national and “illegal alien” who attempted to evade arrest during a “targeted enforcement operation” by federal immigration officers.
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Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as Salgado Araujo’s son, told the Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while he was looking for workers to hire in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said Salgado Araujo ignored commands to stop his vehicle, saying he “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer”.
In past shooting incidents, including the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, immigration officials had said that their officers were being attacked when the two were shot, claims vigorously disputed in both incidents.
Video footage captured on Tuesday by a surveillance camera from a nearby business and reviewed by the Reuters news agency showed a person lying on the ground beside a white van and surrounded by officers, in what appeared to be the aftermath of the shooting.
Salgado Araujo was targeted in an operation because he was living in the country without legal permission, according to DHS.
Democratic US Representative Sylvia Garcia called for an independent and thorough investigation of ICE’s claims about the fatal shooting.
“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” Garcia posted on social media.
Juan Proano, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, echoed Garcia’s calls for a transparent investigation into ICE’s actions.
“We don’t take DHS at their word at all,” Proano told The Associated Press news agency. “There should be an independent investigation, and they should release all the videos.”
There have been at least six fatal shootings by federal immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement crackdown.
Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was shot in the head by a federal immigration agent during a crackdown in Minneapolis. DHS also said Good was trying to hit the agent with her vehicle, which local officials and witnesses disputed, saying she was only trying to drive away.
The backlash from Good’s killing and other similar incidents led ICE to step back from some of its more controversial operations.
However, Tuesday’s deadly confrontation in Houston came amid a recent increase in the number of ICE arrests nationwide, with immigration officers picking up about 2,000 migrants a day last week, Reuters reported.
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